弗四3　 以和平的联索，竭力保守那灵的一。

　　太十八20 因为无论在哪里，有两三个人被聚集到我的名里，哪里就有我在他们中间。

　　申命记十二章至少在四方面与新约中的启示相符。

　　首先，……神的子民总该是一。为着保守以色列人的一，神不让十二支派各有自己的敬拜中心。……神在祂的智慧里，不让祂的子民有自己的选择或偏好；祂要求他们接受祂的选择，即使去那地对许多人并不方便，他们也要一年三次到独一的敬拜中心去。

　　许多人偏爱自己的方式，而不要神的方式。……所有的宗派都是按着人的偏好。……主的恢复乃是按着神的喜好，回到神的方式（申命记生命读经，八八页）。

　　Eph. 4:3 Being diligent to keep the oneness of the Spirit in the uniting bond of peace.

　　Matt. 18:20 For where there are two or three gathered into My name, there am I in their midst.

　　Chapter 12 of Deuteronomy corresponds in at least four ways to the revelation in the New Testament.

　　First,…the people of God should always be one. In order to preserve the oneness of the children of Israel, God did not allow each of the twelve tribes to have its own worship center…In His wisdom God did not allow His people to have their own choice or preference but required them to take His choice and to come three times a year to the unique worship center, even though travel to that place was inconvenient for many of them.

　　Many prefer to have their own way instead of God’s way…All denominations are according to man’s preferences…The Lord’s recovery is a matter of coming back to God’s way according to God’s preference. (Life-study of Deuteronomy, 2nd ed., pp. 75-76)

　　第二，……神保守祂子民在一里的路，乃是有一个立祂名，就是那独一之名的地方。……今天基督徒只该聚集到一个独一的名里，就是主耶稣的名里（太十八20）。然而，基督徒习惯于聚集到别的名里，就如浸信会、长老会、圣公会、路德会、循理会。

　　按照申命记十二章的预表，聚集到主独一的名以外的名里，乃是严肃的事。我们的敬拜若有别的名，是可憎的；这是属灵的淫乱。我们是基督的配偶，祂的妻子。我们既是祂的配偶，就不该在祂的名以外有别的名。……妻子如何该冠夫姓，不可冠任何别人的姓；照样，我们在基督里的信徒，也只该冠基督的名字，而不可冠任何别的名字。第三，申命记十二章和新约都启示，神所选择要我们敬拜祂的地方，乃是祂居所的地方。……按照以弗所二章二十二节，神的住处，神的居所，乃是在我们的灵里。……我们若在基督的名下聚在一起，却没有操练我们的灵，反而留在天然的心思里，或者甚至留在肉体里，我们就不是在神的居所里。我们聚集在一起，要借着享受基督来敬拜神，就必须聚集到基督的名里，也必须在灵里。不然，我们就会失去召会的正确立场。

　　在有关敬拜神的一切事上，我们都必须操练我们的灵。当我们歌唱，我们该用灵唱；当我们赞美，我们该用灵赞美；当我们说话，我们该用灵说。我们若这样作，聚会就要在神的居所中。

　　第四，在申命记十二章和新约里都有祭坛，就是十字架。……保罗在林前二章二节指明这事的重要：“我曾定了主意，在你们中间不知道别的，只知道耶稣基督，并这位钉十字架的。”

　　召会的入口乃是十字架，凡要进到召会里的人，都必须经历十字架并且被钉死。经历十字架就是你这个人被摆在一边、被废除、被减为无有。召会中只该有基督，不该有我们。我们该在哪里？我们该在十字架上。这就是说，我们不该将任何属于旧人、肉体、己或天然生命的东西带进召会。我们在十字架上时，就真是在灵里了。

　　我们预备来聚会时，可以祷告说，“主，我若仍然有肉体、己和天然生命，求你赦免我，并且除去这些东西。主，我需要被除去，然后被你自己所膏抹。”我们若都是这样来聚会，就是在基督的名里聚会，在神的居所里聚会，并且在十字架的应用下聚会（申命记生命读经，八八至九一页）。

　　参读：申命记生命读经，第十至十一篇。

　　Second,…God’s way to keep the oneness of His people is to have a place with His name, the unique name…Today Christians should be gathered together into only one name, the name of the Lord Jesus (Matt. 18:20). However, Christians are accustomed to being gathered into other names, such as Baptist, Presbyterian, Episcopalian, Lutheran, and Methodist.

　　According to the type in Deuteronomy 12, it is a serious matter to be gathered into a name other than the unique name of the Lord. To have other names for our worship is an abomination; it is spiritual fornication. We are Christ’s counterpart, His wife. Since we are His counterpart, we should not have a name other than His name…Just as a wife should bear the name of her husband, not the name of any other man, so we, the believers in Christ, should bear only His name and not any other name.

　　Third, both Deuteronomy 12 and the New Testament reveal that the place chosen by God for our worship of Him is the place of His habitation… According to Ephesians 2:22, God’s habitation, His dwelling place, is in our spirit…If we come together under the name of Christ but, instead of exercising our spirit, we remain in the natural mind or, even worse, in the flesh, we will not be in the habitation of God. In gathering together for the worship of God by enjoying Christ, we must gather into the name of Christ and we must be in the spirit. Otherwise, we will lose the proper ground of the church.

　　In everything related to the worship of God, we need to exercise our spirit. Whenever we sing, we should sing with our spirit. Whenever we praise, we should praise with our spirit. Whenever we speak, we should speak with our spirit. If we do this, the meeting will be in God’s habitation.

　　Fourth, in Deuteronomy 12 and in the New Testament we have the altar, the cross…Paul’s word in 1 Corinthians 2:2 indicates the importance of this: “I did not determine to know anything among you except Jesus Christ, and this One crucified.”

　　At the entrance of the church is the cross, and everyone who would come into the church must experience the cross and be crucified. To experience the cross is to be set aside, to be annulled, to be reduced to nothing. In the church there should be only Christ, not us. Where should we be? We should be on the cross. This means that we should not bring anything of the old man, anything of the flesh, the self, or the natural life, into the church. When we are on the cross, we are truly in the spirit.

　　As we are preparing to come to the meeting, we may pray, “Lord, if I still have something related to the flesh, the self, and the natural life, I ask You to forgive me and to cross out these things. Lord, I need to be crossed out and then anointed with Yourself.” If we all come to the meeting in this way, we will meet in the name of Christ, we will meet in God’s habitation, and we will meet under the application of the cross. (Life-study of Deuteronomy, 2nd ed., pp. 76-78)

　　Further Reading: Life-study of Deuteronomy, msgs. 10—11